Cover for ends of books



Oct. 27, 1953 V. B. HARRINGTON COVER FOR ENDS OF BOOKS Filed Aug. 3, 1949 INVENTOR. V/cior B. Harri/7 2 00 BY Patented Oct. 27, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COVER FOR ENDS OF BOOKS Victor B. Harrington, New York, N. Y. Application August 3, 1949, Serial No. 108,407

2 Claims.

The invention relates to a cover for the end of a book as well as a blank from which a cover may be made, the primary purpose of which is to catch the accumulation of dust which customarily soils the upper end or edge of books. The cover for the end of a book also serves the purpose of removing the finger pressure from the back binding of the book to the forward edge of the leaves of the book when it is removed from a shelf. The book cover is preferably made from thin sheet plastic which is relatively stiif but it also may be made of paper, blanks being provided therefor which are cut and fitted to the particular book.

It is an object of the invention to construct a cover for the end of the book of new and novel form.

Another object is to construct a cover for the end of a book which not only protects the same from the accumulation of dust but also serves to project the pull of one removing a book from the shelf from the back binding to the front edge of the book.

Another object is to construct a cover for the top and of a book which spring up out of place when the covers of the book are opened.

A still further object is to provide a blank which can be cut and folded into a cover to fit a particular book and may be provided with the cut so that it merely requires fitting and sticking together.

Other objects of the invention will be more apparent from the fOllOWlIlg description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing illustrating some preferred embodiments thereof in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cover for the end of a book;

Figure 2 is a portion of a view of the tail or rear portion of the cover of different form from that of Fig. 1 and shown in two positions;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a cover which encloses all three edges of a book; and

Figure 4 is a plan view of a blank such as of paper which may be cut, folded and fitted to many different dimensions of books in order to provide a cover which fits a particular book.

The cover for the book includes a top member or portion H) which is adapted to lie along the top surface of the book and preferably in the recess formed between the covers C shown in dotdash lines. The forward end of the top portion is bent downwardly so that it will lie against the front edges of the leaves of the book. It is desirable for the cover to have side members I2 although these are not essential; however they give the cover and the front edge increased rigidity. The tail or rear portion I3 at the other end provides a length for the cover so that it is approximately the customary width of a book. The entire cover is integra or in one piece.

Means are provided at or on the rear portion of the cover to serve as a finger pull or projection so that when a book is removed from a shelf, the finger engages the projection and the pull on the book is applied at the front edges of the leaves by the downwardly extending front portion II. The finger projection shown in Figure l is a block l5 fastened to the end portion l3 in any suitable manner. The cover of Figure 1 has a length to cover the upper surface of the leaves of the book and extends from the front edge to approximately the rear binding.

Books are not standard in their width dimension and hence it is desirable to have a tail or rear portion ll which is adaptable for varying widths of books. The rear portion of a dust cover so constructed is shown in Figure 2 which has a back finger projection l8. The excess length of the tail may be bent downwardly between the binding of the leaves themselves and the cover fabric or backing of the book. In this way the cover is suitable for a great many widths of books, and the end or the finger projection l8 projects above the upper edge of the book to transmit the finger pull to the front edges of the book as described in connection with the construction of The bent back finger pull Hi may be be heat welded to the adjacent part of the rear portion.

The cover and particularly the tail Il may be made of relatively stiff or resilient material and as shown in dot and dash lines cover 15 shown as bent backwardly upon itself so that when it is inserted in position the end 18 of the double back portion projects above the edge of the book and provides a finger hold for easily removing a book from the shelf but more importantly when the finger pulls against this projecting end the pull is carried forward along the cover so that the book is removed from the shelf by the pressure or pull exerted upon the front edge of the leaves of the book by the front edge of the dust cover Hi. This removes a pulling force from the back binding of a book when removing the same from a shelf to the front edges of the leaves and the damage thereby. The finger grip may be a separate piece glued, heat welded or otherwise secured to the tail of the cover in any fashion. In the form of tail shown in Figure 3 the finger projection is a separate piece fastened thereto suchas by heat weld if plastic and may be heavier than the cover material if desired to give greater stiffness.

Greater protection may be afforded by having the cover 21 extend around the the book as shown in Figure 3. This cover in other respects may be like that described in connection with Figures 1: and 2 and hence need not be further described; The cover may be formed from a strip of thin plastic, slit inwardly from the edge at proper positions depending upon the dimensions of the book, bent or folded at right angles at the slits and the overlapping corners 23 secured together by heat welding or in any other fashion. It may be formed in other ways as-is apparent. It may also have a block 22 at the bottom thereof to support the leaves at their proper level and thereby remove a continuous strain on the binding from the weight of the pages. In this three sided construction the spring feature serves no purpose.

An inexpensive dust cover may be formed from paper. These may be sold in completed form;

however it is-more desirable to provide blanks therefor and to have the purchaser cut, fold and stick the same to fit the particular book upon whichthe cover is to be mounted. The blank 24' is of thin" material preferably paper which is of rectangular shape and can be cut and folded. It may have a center line 25 folding lines 26- printed thereon on each side of the center line and parallel-therewith, which are helpful though not necessary. These lines form folding lines. A cut and fold line-2'1 is provided at the front end and spaced from the end edge thereof which line extends inwardlyfrom each side edge of the blank. lhese may be pre-slit; however it is more desirable for the user to cut it the needed depth on each side for equal distancescorresponding with or depending upon the thickness of the pages or book. These cuts form or mark out front tabs 28.

a The blank may be rectangular and may carry at the rear end thereof at least one and prefer ably a series of parallel cut lines a, b, c, d, e; f, or g, extending inwardly fromopposite side edges of theblank. A slit is made from each edge towards the center and the line selected depends upon the width of the book. Each of these out or slit linesmark out or form r'ear' tabs 29 When so cut, the front end or portion 311 is folded down upon the line 21- andthe sides 3| are folded downwardly upon each side and upon one of or parallelto one of the guide the tabs, flaps or ears 28 are folded over the folded down sides 3| and the spot of dry mucilage on one of the two contacting surfaces such as three edges of as well as guide lines 26 after which book is protected against 32 upon the underface of the tabs, 34, on the top face of the sides 3| thereof, whichever is provided, is moistened so that the tabs are fastened to the sides. One only of such spots 32 or 34 need be provided. The rear tabs 29 are folded underneath or over the top of the blank upon or parallel to one ofthe guidelines 25 and mucilage 33 on the underside of at least one rear tab is moistened to stick them thereover to hold them in place and reinforce the tall or rear end of the cover.

It is clear that the cut lines 21 instead of extending from the side edges of the blank may be any one of a pair of horizontally extending fold lines 26 in which case the ears or tabs 28 formed thereby are bent over the forward edge or portion 30 of the cover and glued thereto with the adhesive 32 provided on the underside of cars. It is clear also that if desired the rear end of the cover may be trimmed into a tail without doubling over the same as described. The tailmay be tucked into' the: space between the binding and the rear cover or may extend backwardly to form a pull means for removing a book from ashelf without pulling upon the back cover. With a soft material such as paper, the front downwardly folded portion would not have sufficientrigidity without the sides ofthe cover to use the same for pulling a book out from other books upon a shelf as described hereinbefore.

The invention is presented to fill a need for improvements in a cover for'the end of a book. It is understood that various modifications in structure, as well as changes in mode of opera tion, assembly, and manner of use, may and often do occur to those skilled in the art, especial-1y after benefiting from the teachings of the invention. Hence it will be understood that this disclosure is illustrative of preferred means ofembodying the invention in useful form by explaining the construction, operation and advan tages thereof.

What is claimed is:

A dust cover for the upper edge of a book comprising at least atopportion having'a length at least approximatelyequal to the: width of abook and a width approximately the thicknes's of. the book, the top portion being integral from end to end thereof and adapted'tolie alongthe upper edge of the book, a downwardly extending pertionat one end thereof toengage the front edge" of the leaves of the book, side portions extending downwardly on each side of the top portion the material being resilient and a straight rearwardly directed extension of the top portion adapted to be bent downwardly between the book binding and the rear cover and retain its flexibility at the bend;

2. A dust cover as in claim 1 which the opposite end: from the downwardly extending portion is' bent upon itself to' form a finger pull.

VICTOR; B. HARRTNGTON;

References Cited in the file of this patent 

